Trump plays up birth certificate issue in Fla.

8/26/12 6:28 PM EDT

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Sarasota, Fla., Donald Trump said Mitt Romney's birth certificate quip in Michigan last week may have been a lighthearted joke, but that the issue of President Obama's birth certificate is far from settled.

"What I think doesn’t matter -- he has his views and many other people disagree with him as you know," Trump said. "...But he did make a joke, and some people thought it might not be a joke. It happens to be an issue that a lot of people believe in … many, many people believe in it so maybe I would have handled it differently, but he’s running for president and I’m with him 100 percent."

Trump, who has focused on Obama's birth certificate in the past, said that whether he raises the issue again going forward is an open question.

"Let’s just say this there’s a huge group of people that are not believers in what [Obama] did, what he said and where he came from. We’ll see what happens. Well see what happens over the coming weeks and months."

Trump was in town to receive the "Statesman of the Year" award from the Sarasota Republican Party. He was originally scheduled to participate in what he called a "big surprise" at the GOP convention on Monday, but in light of the cancellation of Monday's speeches he's not sure what his involvement will be.

"Well I had a big role tomorrow night. You know what happened tomorrow night. So it’s now up to them. … It’s totally up to them, whatever they like," he said. "They gave me a big role and I was looking forward – I was actually going to Tampa right after this, right after this dinner, but now I probably will be going back to New York. I may come back but I’ll probably be going to New York after the dinner."

Asked to elaborate on what the "big surprise" was, Trump just said it was a "very big thing." "I think they're still going to probably do it," he added.

In regards to Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" controversy, Trump said the comments were "disastrous" but that Akin had apologized for them.

"Well he's apologized, but it was a disastrous answer," he said. "But he has apologized, so hopefully he can do fine."

In a later conversation with POLITICO, Trump would not comment on whether Akin should drop out of the race, and said the pressure of the campaign could have contributed to Akin's comments.

"Maybe he was nervous, maybe he was under great pressure -- I don't know what would cause him to make those statements," he told POLITICO. "I wouldn't be so presumptuous to say resign, but some people are saying that. He made a mistake and he's apologized."